Sunday, November 05, 2006

Saddam gets the noose

Pajamas Media has a roundup. This marks a Shiite victory, showing that they really do run the show. The Sunnis have only three choices: 1. Leave Iraq; 2. Agree to a Shiite dominated federal government with some local self-determination; 3. Fight on and seek help from Sunni states. If the last case, Iran would surely come to the aid of the Shia, but Iraqi Shiites don't view themselves as Persians and would not be likely to want an Iranian style revolution. Muqtada al Sadr may see himself as the Khomeini of Iraq, but he's no Ayatollah. The U.S. will want to preserve civil order, but if the whole region turns into a sectarian battle zone, we might have to decide whether preserving order is worth the price, more boots on the ground, or not.